Index or file



Dec. 31, 1929. A. E. HUNT INDEX 0R FILE Filled- Oct. 10, 1921 gwuenl oe M Patented Dec. 31, 1929 warren STATES PATENT oFFicn ALFRED EQHUNT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A$SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO REMINGTON BAND ING., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE INDEX OR FILE Application filed October 10, 1921.

This invention relates to record members for indexes or files, and more particularly to that class of the same in which each of the reference members is overlapped by the succeeding member and projects a short distance beyond the latter so as to disclosea small portion of its surface to enable the indicia thereon to be read without the manipulation of the members. My invention is perhaps particularly applicable to those indeXes or files wherein a plurality of such reference members are carried by or upon a suitable support and usually these members are arranged to slide along suitable guides and to be easily detached from the support and replaced thereupon. Itis sometimes found to be advantageous to provide tongues or ears upon the body of the reference member to secure the latter to the guides or holders and in such case it is desirable to have that portion of the reference member upon which these ears or tongues are formed of considerable strength or thickness, so that the tongues will not be torn out or pulled off.

Moreover, it is often necessary or desirable when one of the reference members has become filled with memoranda placed thereupon to remove it and file it away for future reference. In this connection it will be found desirable to detach the reference-bearing portion of the reference member fromv that portion which is attached to the support. Also it is of advantage to form the reference-bearing portion of the reference member or card of relatively thin material for the reason, among others, that less space will be occupied by it when formed in this way, and such a member will be more economical to manufacture.

One object of my invention is, therefore, to provide a reference member of this general character with a portion of increased thickness about the point of attachment to the support.

Another object of my invention isto provide a reference-bearing member which has a portion of increased thickness by which it is secured to the support and a relatively thin portion for the reception of reference material.

Serial No. 506,816.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a sectional reference member having a section adapted to be attached to the support and a reference-bearing section hinged thereto and adapted to be detached therefrom.

More specifically I contemplate the provision of a reference-bearing member formed of relatively thin material folded so as to provide a portion of double or increased thickness near the folded edge thereof wherein ears or tongues are provided to secure the member upon a suitable support, the body of the reference member being hingedly connected to this folded portion by a weakened line whereby it may or swung about this line as a hinge to permit access to the back of the card for the purpose of posting thereon.

T 0 these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a guide member or holder carrying a plurality of reference members embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of one of my improved reference members;

Fig. 8 is a detail side view of the lower portion of one of my reference members;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but showing two of the reference members as they are attached to a support in superposed position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modified form of card; and

Fig. 6 is a front elevational View showing a plurality of reference members secured upon a support, but showing the reference members in down-hanging or suspended position instead of in upstanding position, as shown in Fig. 1.

While the particular form of holder or carrier for the reference members and the particular means by which the members are attached to this holder is not of importance in all aspects of the invention, I have selected,

be detached, if desired,

for illustration of my invention, to show a guide strip having flanges 11 adapted to be engaged by die-cut ears 12 upon reference members 13. The supporting member 10 is of the general type shown in Patent N 0. 1,048,056, granted December 24, 1912, to Irving Fisher, and the reference members are attached to the support in substantially the same manner, as shown in that patent.

For many reasons it is desirable to provide reference-bearing members of relatively thin material, but in some cases it is found that it is difficult to provide means for attaching such a reference member to a support, as the tongues or ears cut from or attached to the reference members to cooperate with the flanges of the support will tear out and render the member unfit for use. It is, therefore, desirable to provide the reference member With a portion of increased thickness about the point or points at which the attaching means is applied While retaining the proper thinness of the material for the referencebearing portion.

To secure these advantages among others, I have shown a reference member 13 consisting of a sheet of relatively thin material folded to provide the two leaves 14 and 15. These leaves are hinged by suitable means, such as the weakened lines 16 and 17 to the lower portion 18 of the member adjacent the folded edge. The ears or tongues 12 are cut from the portion 18 of double or increased thickness, so that the proper strength will be obtained at the point of attachment of the members to the support.

It will be noted that the leaves 14 and are hinged to the attaching portion 18, which may be referred to as a stub section, and either of the leaves or reference-bearing sections 14 or 15 may be readily detached along the weakened or perforated lines 16 and 17 and filed away in a permanent file for future reference. It will also be obvious that as the reference-bearing sections are hinged to the stub or attaching sections, the former may be bent down when it is desired to obtain access to one of the bottom members, or to post upon the back of the reference-bearing section. It may also be found desirable at times to place a piece of carbon paper between the leaves 14 and 15 and while one of them may be detached for any desired disposition of the same, a duplicate record may be kept attached to the file. By the arrangement shown, a large amount of posting or reference-bearing surface is provided, occupying, however, but a small space upon the guide strip 10, as the double stub portion of the card occupies no more space longitudinally'of this strip than if it were single. 7

It has been found desirable in some cases to so fold the leaves 14 and 15 that the margin of one will extend to some distance beyond the other, so that when it is desired to manipulate or separate these levers, only one edge will be presented to the operators fingers and the separation of the leaves will be much more easily accomplished than if the edges of the leaves coincided, and the user was then compelled to separate them. As shown in Fig. 1, the adjacent cards upon the guide 10 will nest closer together than the width of the exposed margin of the leaf 14, thus the leaf 15 of one of the under cards will be entirely covered by the leaf 14 of the next upper card, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Even in such an arrangement, however, it will be noted that the edges of no two leaves coincide, so that the advantage above referred to is retained.

If it is desired to provide more than the two leaves having four posting surfaces, a plurality of the reference members may be superposed, as shown in Fig. 4 and mounted upon the guide strips or holders in this way, thus providing eight posting surfaces, while occupying no more space upon the guide strip t ian one of the cards now in use, which provides only one or at the most, if a hinged card, two posting surfaces. Such an arrangement will be found very advantageous 1D increasing the amount of posting surface available upon a given holder. It is usually desirable to provide the weakened lines 16 of the rear leaf 14 slightly above the weakened line 17 of the front leaf 15, so that when these leaves are turned over to provide access to the lower leaves or to reverse side of the rear leaf, there will be no tendency of the members to buckle, due to the confining of one of the folded portions within the other. It will be readily appreciated that if the two lines 16 and 17 were provided in the same horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 3*, when the leaves 14 and 15 were doubled over upon the stub portion 18, there would be a tendency of the inner folded portion to buckle and a flat fold would not be obtainable.

If a large amount of posting surface is not desired, a single reference bearing member may be provided and yet the increased thickness retained at the points about which the reference member is secured to the support. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 wherein a reference member of relatively thin material 20 is folded adjacent one'end thereof at 21 to provide a stub section 22 having the tongues or ears 23 formed therein. In this case the single leaf 20 is hinged to the stub section 22 by a weakened or perforated line 24 and may be detached for permanent filing, if desired. It is, of course, obvious in cases where the greater posting surface is not desired, a great saving will be accomplished in the stock used by the form of reference member shown in Fig. 5, wherein the fold is made adjacent one edgeof the sheet, so that only the stub portion 22 is doubled and one leaf for the reception of reference material is provided.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a plurality of reference members of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3, attached to a support in down-hanging position. It will be apparent that when the reference-bearing sections are hinged to the stub or attaching sections in the manner shown, they may be supported upon the guides or holders, either in upstanding position, as shown in Fig. 1, or in down-hanging position, a shown in Fig. 6. This, of course, is a distinct advantage in the provision of cards of this character, as identical cards can be made for use in either position.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. A plurality of reference members provided with integrally formed means for attachment to a support in nested relation, each of said members being folded upon itself to provide a portion of increased thickness about said attaching means, said means comprising rearwardly projecting tongues cut from one fold and passing through an opening in the other fold.

2. A. reference member having an attaching portion of increased thickness and a reference-bearing portion hinged thereto, and means to secure a plurality of said members upon a support either in nested or superposed position.

3. A reference member having a. portion of increased thickness provided with depending tongues by which it is adapted to be attached to a support and a reference-bearing portion connected thereto by a weakened line.

4. A reference member having a portion of increased thickness provided with tongues at points spaced from the edges thereof by which it may be attached to a support and a reference-bearing section hinged thereto.

5. A reference member having a portion of increased thickness provided with tongues upon an intermediate portion thereof by which it may be attached to a support and a reference-bearing section hinged thereto and separable therefrom.

6. A plurality of reference members having stub portions adapted to be attached to a support in nested relation and a plurality of reference-bearing leaves or sections connected to each of the stub portions.

7. A plurality of reference members having stub portions adapted to be attached to a support in nested relation and a plurality of reference-bearing leaves or sections hinged to each of the stub portions.

8. A plurality of reference members hav ing stub portions adapted to be attached to a support in nested relation and a plurality of reference bearing leaves or sections hinged to each of the stub portions, and independently separable therefrom.

9. A reference member folded upon itself at one edge thereof to provide a marginal portion of increased thickness, and provided with registering die-cut tongues and corresponding openings upon said marginal portion.

10. A plurality of reference members each folded upon itself at one edge thereof to provide' a marginal section of double thickness, and means upon an intermediate part of said section to attach said members to a support in nested relation.

11. A reference member folded upon itself at one edge thereof to provide a marginal portion of double thickness, and attaching tongues cut from the body of said portion and leaving openings therein whereby a plurality of said members may be attached to a support either in superposed or nested relation.

12. A reference member folded upon itself at one edge thereofto provide a marginal portion of double thickness, and integrally formed rearwardly projecting tongues cut from both thicknesses of said double portion to engage a support and hold a plurality of said members thereon in nested relation.

13. A reference member, comprising a sheet of relatively thin material folded upon itself to provide two reference-bearing leaves and tongues cut from the folds of the sheet adjacent said folded edge to secure said member upon a support.

14. A reference member comprising a sheet of relatively thin material folded upon itself to provide a plurality of reference-bearing leaves and means projetcing rearwardly from said member for securing both thicknesses of said folded sheet to a support.

15. A reference member comprising a sheet of relatively thin material folded upon itself to provide a plurality of referencebearingv leaves and means upon both thicknesses of said folded sheet to engage a support rearwardly of said member to secure the latter thereon.

16. A reference member comprising a sheet of relatively thin material folded upon itself to provide a plurality of referencebearing leaves and means adjacent the folded edge to secure both thicknesses of said folded sheet to a support, said means comprising registering integral tongues cut from said sheet of material.

17 A reference member comprising a sheet of relatively thin material folded upon itself to provide a thickened portion and adapted to be secured fiatwise upon a support, and means upon the fold remote from said support and passing through the other fold to engage the support to secure the member thereon.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of October, 1921.

ALFRED E. HUNT. 

